Weather

Texas, Michigan, and Kansas Lead Nearly 1 Million Power Outages Across the United States During the Week of May 18 Through 24 as Thunderstorms Drive Widespread Grid Failures

ByAaron Walker May 27, 2026

UNITED STATES — Thunderstorms drove nearly 1 million customers across the United States to lose power during the week of May 18 through 24, 2026, with peak outages topping 200,000 customers simultaneously at the worst point of the week. Texas ranked most severe overall, followed by Michigan and Kansas, while Mississippi recorded some of the longest outage durations and Kansas exceeded 3 percent of statewide customers out at peak.

Full Power Outage Severity Rankings May 18 Through 24

Top 20 states by outage severity score:

Rank	State	Severity Score	Customer Outage Hours	Peak Customers Out	Peak Percent Out	Avg Duration (min)
1	Texas	0.68	3,355,372	108,011	0.8%	13.9
2	Michigan	0.60	1,481,685	87,859	1.7%	17.6
3	Kansas	0.56	396,866	50,059	3.6%	17.2
4	California	0.48	1,979,753	93,569	0.6%	7.5
5	Mississippi	0.45	573,485	20,616	1.6%	26.3
6	Massachusetts	0.42	338,721	70,493	2.4%	6.8
7	Missouri	0.36	495,708	51,377	1.7%	9.6
8	Pennsylvania	0.31	856,565	50,181	0.8%	7.8
9	Louisiana	0.28	534,178	18,990	0.9%	14.6
10	New Jersey	0.26	423,644	43,434	1.0%	6.1
11	West Virginia	0.25	285,500	7,315	0.7%	17.0
12	Ohio	0.23	691,409	28,062	0.5%	7.7
13	Iowa	0.21	222,727	16,702	1.1%	8.6
14	Utah	0.19	208,286	8,054	0.7%	10.9
15	Indiana	0.18	333,952	22,082	0.7%	6.1
16	Nebraska	0.18	67,595	8,966	1.4%	6.2
17	Georgia	0.18	494,428	22,631	0.5%	6.0
18	Virginia	0.17	464,373	18,318	0.5%	6.9
19	Arkansas	0.15	180,076	11,409	0.7%	6.5
20	North Carolina	0.10	372,579	9,910	0.2%	4.1

The Three Standout States

Texas led the nation with a severity score of 0.68, accumulating over 3.35 million customer outage hours and peaking at 108,011 customers simultaneously out. The sheer scale of Texas combined with repeated severe weather events through the week drove the top ranking.

Michigan ranked second with 1.48 million customer outage hours and a peak of 87,859 customers out, with an average outage duration of 17.6 minutes indicating a persistent and widespread grid impact.

Kansas was the most notable story by percentage, with 3.6 percent of all statewide customers out at peak — the highest percentage of any state in the country during the week. That figure reflects just how concentrated and intense the Kansas storm impacts were relative to the state’s grid size.

Mississippi Had the Longest Outages

While Mississippi ranked fifth overall, it recorded the longest average outage duration in the country at 26.3 minutes, meaning customers who lost power waited significantly longer for restoration than in any other state. With 573,485 total customer outage hours and a 1.6 percent peak, the combination of storm intensity and restoration challenges made Mississippi’s outage experience among the most disruptive of the week.

Peak Power Outage Map Tells the Full Story

The county-level peak outage map for May 18 through 24 shows the geographic spread of the most severe impacts across the country.

Regional outage patterns from the map:

Region	Peak Outage Intensity
South Texas	Dark red and purple, 25 to 100 percent out in some counties
Kansas / Missouri corridor	Red and dark orange, 10 to 50 percent in concentrated areas
Mississippi / Louisiana	Orange and red, 10 to 25 percent in affected counties
Michigan	Scattered blue to red, 5 to 25 percent in impacted zones
California	Scattered orange, isolated 10 to 25 percent counties
Carolinas / Virginia	Light to medium blue, 2 to 10 percent widespread
Northern Plains	Minimal, mostly white to light blue